The Black Magicians of Monsanto

Far too many British Spiritualists are concerned with topics as trivial as the so-called “Randi Gamble.” Indeed, following the work of Carl Gustav Jung and Roberto Assagioli, it is almost beyond me that our religious ministers waist so much of their valuable time addressing the clod-like assertions of a clearly career based scepticism, when spirits are now openly at war around us. Certainly, some members of the younger generation have sensed that a call-to-arms has been sounded. They seem to perceive dark, destructive forces remaining dangerously unchallenged in our society and quite justifiably are starting to accuse their more mature neighbours of a bewildering spiritual narcolepsy. Many of them even feel that these devious shades are threatening the fecund environment; gathering a hellish, technocratic, momentum, against our Mother the Earth. All of which makes it truly astonishing that - as a movement - we have done so little to support their spiritual concerns. Perhaps especially so, once we recall how few other Churches uphold the sanctity of Life, on every level, as intrinsically worthy of respect.

In fairness, a number of factors hide these mighty battles from general view. Most notably the fact that their outward form is usually disguised by pious political hyperbole and marketing misinformation. Moreover, militant commerce has an uncanny way of silencing spiritual reflection, along with the moral implications of industrial procedures. Yet in this sense, contemporary Youth is again proving far ahead of their strangely disconnected elders, since they remain alert to the observation that nothing is religiously neutral an age where complex agricultural techniques, coupled to ethical complacency, are effectively manufacturing a brand new branch of the Black Arts. Arguably then, from the legendary Dr. Faustus, to the fictional Victor Frankenstein, the same charge against modernity has echoed across the centuries. A warning voiced in Rabelais’ famous saying that “science without a conscience is the ruin of the soul”. This explains why some commentators can’t help feeling the ingenious Pythagorian himself would have been shocked at the depths to which people sink when science becomes a slave to corporate business ventures. Also, this may be why Monsanto’s representations to the media always seem to have a Faustian atmosphere about them. Time and again, the smell of sulphur chokes their official pronouncements. It is, therefore, unwise to ignore these historic meditations as “simply” subjective, while such a company openly wages a campaign to genetically modify our very food with apparently minimal public consent.

Sadly, vulnerable Third World countries appear to be the ecological “No Mans Land” between sustainable progress and almost demonic, global, manipulation; an example being easily discerned when considering Monsanto’s “Terminator” technology. Asking, of course, why any descent minded company would patent the genetic engineering of otherwise healthy plants to produce sterile seeds is unsettling enough. But the projection that this plan, if implemented, would reduce African and Indian farmers to a kind of credit dependency (whereby they are obliged to buy replacement seeds every year, rather than use existing stocks), is undeniably sinister. Clearly, those that unclean spirits would destroy, first they make servile. In addition to this death dealing research, pundits have pointed out that future environmental effects of genetically modified crops are, at present, unknown. Apart from steadily increasing evidence, which demonstrates that processes of cross pollination can actually spread herbicidal tolerance to wild plants in a manner similar to a virus. Long term, this means that instead of reducing the amount of chemicals applied in farming, some producers are becoming locked like junkies into chemical slavery, just to defend their perfectly natural crops. What else can be said, except that the striking hubris underlying these commercial decisions is staggering; a sin the spirits are ominously threatening to punish in this life.

Partly, the problem is caused by a global free-for-all to maximise profits for irresponsible shareholders, at the expense of Fertility and Freedom.. These transparently wicked designs are further linked to a weakening of our British borders as obvious defences against corporate insanity. Perhaps surprisingly, nationalist politics have proved to hold more substance than merely old-fashioned xenophobia, despite the calculated slanders mouthed by politicians associated with multinational business executives. Accompanied as these improprieties always are by a crippling lack of religious perspective concerning the environment from their side. In which case we, as practising spiritualists, need to be more mindful of forests and foliage as our ancestors in a way similar to those who have already passed into Spirit. We know, after all, our friends and family are now at one with the vast continuum. Furthermore, it can be said that our loved ones have joined with these archetypal energies in the sacred process of unending creation. Free of charge! Thus,only one question remains; will our Community awake to the challenge of defending Life, or continue to be side tracked by unadulterated trivia?